PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2018

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 05/18 www.petpla.net 16 25% CO 2 emissions reduction in soft drink bottles Cutting carbon in PET recycling FtoP Direct Recycle Technology, developed by Suntory Holdings Limited jointly with Kyoei Industry Co., Ltd, Sipa SpA of Italy and Erema Group GmbH of Austria, is designed for use in soft drink PET bottle preform production. The producers claim that CO 2 emissions produced during manufacture are 25% lower per kg than previous recycling processes. Preforms using this technology will be manufactured at Kyoei Industry Co., Ltd, and introduced for part of Suntory Beverage & Food Limited’s PET bottle products from the summer of 2018 onward. FtoP (Flake to Preform) Direct Recycle Technology takes ake cre- ated by pulverising and washing recovered PET bottles, treats it at high temperature and low pressure for a xed period. After melting and ltering, the resulting recyclate can be used directly to manufacture preforms. In order to ensure preforms are of uniform quality, it is important to pour the melted ake into the mould- ing machine at a constant pressure. The development of FtoP technology involved the construction of actual facilities and their verication, over a protracted period of time. In comparison to the previous setup, which required a large number of processes includ- ing crystallisation and drying leading up to the manufacture of the preform, it is estimated that reductions in CO 2 emissions of approximately 25% will be possible, using FtoP technology. Suntory Holdings Limited and Kyoei Industry Co., Ltd have a track record in promoting activities to reduce the environmental impact of PET bottle manufacturing; they developed Japan’s rst bottle-to-bottle mechanical recycling system, in 2011. For this project the two companies entered into a joint initiative with two overseas equipment manufacturers, Sipa SpA of Italy and Erema Group GmbH, with the specic aim of achiev- ing further reductions in environmental impact. www.suntory.com Kyoei Industry Co., Ltd, headquartered in Oyama City, Tochigi Prefec- ture, is a recycled materials manufacturer specialising in the recycling, pro- cessing and sale of synthetic resins. It has been involved in the recycling of PET bottles since 1986 and currently produces a total of 80,000t of recycled PET resin annually. Italian company Sipa SpA launched its “Xreme” rotary injection-compres- sion moulding system in 2013, and introduced the rst machine of the series at Suntory Products Limited’s Haruna plant. Erema has produced more than 200 examples of its “Vacurema” PET bottle recycling system since it was launched in 1996, to producers around the world. Suntory Group has worked to develop PET bottles with a reduced envi- ronmental impact such as by introducing the lightest domestically manufac- tured PET bottle, 30% of which consists of plant-based materials, for use in the 550ml size of Suntory Tennensui. It is constructing a trial plant for PET bottles made entirely from plant-based materials.